KELLIE HARRINGTON WITHDRAWS DUE TO INJURY

June 30, 2019

On the final day of the competition at the European Games a decision has been made to withdraw Kellie Harrington from her final fight in the Women’s Light -60kg today due to injury. Harrington sustained a hand injury in the semi-final bout with Agnes Alexiusson from Sweden, and she has been deemed unfit to box.

Every attempt was made by the medical staff to manage the injury to her right thumb, to give Harrington an opportunity to compete, but this morning the decision was made that she would be withdrawn. Harrington will receive the silver medal in the Women’s Light -60kg today, and now all attention will be placed on Kurt Walker who is competing for the gold medal in the Men’s Bantam at 11.30 Irish time.

“It’s been a fantastic competition for Kellie,” commented Performance Director Bernard Dunne, “it’s unfortunate this injury has arisen, but the right decision has been made that she doesn’t compete. It is unfortunate that hand injuries are part and parcel of boxing, but we need to manage it the right way to ensure a quick return to action.

“Kellie has Europeans and Worlds before the year is out and upcoming Olympic qualification events that we are looking forward to. In making this decision we had to take in the big picture to ensure that we don’t further injure the hand. Our focus is now on Kurt.”

Harrington added, “I’m disappointed to not be competing but I understand that there’s a bigger picture to be taken into account. It would be too much of a risk to go in there and have another setback. I totally respect the advice of the medical staff and the decision of the Performance Director.

“While I’m disappointed, I’m still going to be there for Kurt my teammate, as captain. It’s been an honour to be captain of this boxing team, and I’m going to be cheering him on and I am can’t wait to watch our team collect their medals, and I will carry my silver medal with pride.

“I’m looking forward to getting home, recovering and getting back at it as soon as possible. We came out here having had a fantastic training camp and were excited about testing ourselves against the best in Europe blocks, and we did that. It’s been a fantastic competition for the Irish boxing team and I’m going to continue to trust the team that’s supporting me.”

There will be no further comment until the final athletes have finished competition later today. Boxing and cycling is on the schedule, and the focus for the boxing team will be on Kurt Walker who is competing in the Final at 11:30 Irish time.